Back to School
Term-time travel for children and young people
All children and young people who live or attend school in Greater Manchester are entitled to travel for a special child or concessionary fare on the area’s buses, trains and trams.
The proof of eligibility for a concessionary fare on the bus is an igo card.
Click here for further details about igo and how to apply.
If you want to find out what public transport is available for travel to a particular school, college or other educational establishment from your home, use our
online journey planner. Alternatively, you can ring Traveline on 0871 200 22 33 (calls cost 10p a minute from BT landlines. Mobile and other landline networks may charge more. Lines are open from 7am to 8pm, Monday to Friday, and from 8am to 8pm at weekends).
Transport for Greater Manchester works with schools to plan the best possible transport provision for their students, with the aim of ensuring there is enough capacity across local services to meet their requirements.
Some schools have dedicated bus services. Details of these services can be found
here.
While these are dedicated services, they are formally defined as ordinary bus services, so anyone can use them. That means some services can get busy at peak times, which means not every child can be guaranteed a seat.
There are also Yellow School Bus services serving 50 schools in Greater Manchester.
Seats on these dedicated services (which only students can use) are allocated to children on the basis of signed behaviour agreements, which parents also have to sign up. For more details, please
click here.
Fares & tickets
The fares charged on regular and special school services can vary. This depends on who is operating the service, the service type, and the length of the journey. There are many ticket options available, some offering better value, depending on how often a young person needs to travel (for example, if they also use the bus at weekend). The table below provides an example of how different options may suit different circumstances.
| One Service Provider |
Single or Return Purchased from Driver |
Operator's Own Weekly or Monthly Ticket1 |
Operator's Own Weekly or Monthly Ticket |
|---|
| More Than One Service Provider |
Single or Return Purchased from Driver |
System One Weekly or Monthly Ticket1 |
System One Weekly or Monthly Ticket |
|---|
Note 1: On some school buses, a TfGM weekly ticket is available.
The best fare options will depend on the journey/s taken, the frequency and the operator.
Traveline staff may be able to offer guidance on this, but you will need to find the best option for your child’s individual circumstances by comparing operator’s own products with System One products.
As a guide, a System One 7 Day Junior Bus Saver costs £9.95.
Please
click here to visit the System One website.
For more specific information on the fares and tickets available, click on the links below.
Some Education Authorities offer Free School Travel Passes to some children who travel more than three miles to school. To find out if you are eligible, or to chase up an application that has already been made please contact the Local Education Authority for the area that you live in.
Helping to keep your child safe
High standards of behaviour are expected of passengers on schools services. Details about the Code of Conduct can be found
here. Safety on board any bus is the responsibility of the driver. Therefore, if a child’s behaviour distracts the driver or compromises safety, the operator providing that service can refuse to carry the child indefinitely. As they are responsible for safety, their decision is final but they will notify schools if they need to take such action.
Individual operators will have their own procedures relating to carrying children who have lost their igo pass, ticket or money. As a general rule, however, drivers will not leave a child abandoned in such circumstances. If this is becomes a persistent problem, operators may choose to raise it with the school and notify parents or carers that a child will no longer be carried unless they are in possession of a valid ticket.
Please remember that while TfGM provides child concessions and organises school services, the legal responsibility for getting a child to and from school rests with parents and carers.